Section 2: pages 36-58 Summary

John Larrit is nicknamed Parrot as a child and is still called Parrot in 1793 when the French begin chopping each other's heads off. He is close to his father, Jack Larrit, but never knows his mother. Jack begins working for Mr. Piggott, and they are given a room in the dormitory. The first and second days, Parrot is put to work delivering newspapers, but on the third day, Mr. Piggott asks him to climb up the chimney to retrieve one of the printer's chamber pots. Parrot's job is to take the twenty-year-old pressman, Algernon Watkins, his daily sandwich and remove his waste; Piggott threatens to murder the boy if he tells anyone about Watkins as none of the other printers know about Watkins' presence in the house. Parrot becomes friendly with Watkins who is an impressing engraving artist and...